Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story
by TGxSTep
Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travels the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story. [HitsuXRan]
1. Prologue: Death and Pretty Shinigami

**Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story**

Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travels the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Bleach.

_/Thoughts/_  
"Dialogue"

* * *

**Prologue: Death and Pretty Shinigami**

He didn't remember very well but ever since he could remember he could always see spiritual beings. His parents are just normal people and they were very surprised when they found their son was playing with someone but they couldn't see who their son was talking too. Hitsugaya soon found that his ability is abnormal and he is often shunned by his peers because of his strange behaviour. Luckily his parents however are supportive and brought him to a temple to ask for blessings and received an item (I forgot what they call the thing to repel evil spirits) to prevent their son from being harmed by the spirits.

Toushirou is very intelligent and finds that he could learn everything taught to him in a very short time and he excelled in his studies. His parent are very proud of him and send him to a prestigious school. Soon he receives a scholarship to accelerate his studies and he was able to understand and absorb all the knowledge like a sponge. He matures beyond his age but still carries the same brattish atmosphere around him. Unfortunately he got caught of terminal illness and because there is no cure known for his illness yet and the doctor told him that he would not last longer than a year. His parents were very sad because of it but still stays with their son as long as they could. He is still depressed because he could not go to outside the hospital. During his stay at the hospital he often saw ghosts who are still bound there and not yet sent to the soul society. He asks many things that the ghost have experienced during their life and from those talks he matures and learns to accept his fate and to enjoy the time he has left with his family.

One night He saw a black butterfly which transformed to a girl wearing a shinigami robe with a Katana. He is very intrigued because from his past experiences he never met ghost which could transform themselves. Then he tried to talk to her but was ignored. The girl is ooking around to look for spirits waiting to be send to the soul society but she fails to register a boy that follows her. The girl walked away and found the ghost of an old lady which toushirou is familiar with and he saw the old lady started to dissapear when the girl did something with her katana's hilt. He was worried and ran to the old lady only to find the old lady was gone by the time he arrived there. Then he found that the strange lady started to walk away but he tried to stop her by pulling her sleeves.

To say that Matsumoto Rangiku is surprised is an understatement. She turn her back and tried to look around for someone or something that stuck her sleeve only to find out a human boy is holding her sleeve. _/Forget holding my sleeve.. how did the boy could even see her? The academy didn'ttold me that human could touch us/_ Rangiku thought to herself. "Hey!" that voice pulled her from her reveries and focused her thought at the boy again. "Huh? what do you want boy?" Rangiku asked the boy. "Who are you and what did you do to the old lady!" The boy answered. _/I see... this boy could sense and see spiritual beings... no wonder he could see me/_ "I send her to the soul society brat, and as for the answer of who am I... I am a Shinigami" Rangiku answered honestly.

_/Soul society? where the hell is that? I never heard of that place before.. and here I thought I've remembered all the important place from the map that dad gave me but I never heard of that place... never mind that! Did I hear what she just said/_ "Shinigami? Are you sure you really are a shinigami? The shinigami I heard from a book I read is very ugly and scary looking but you are very pretty!" Toushirou replied.

_/Heh! this brat sure knows how to flatter a lady/_ Rangiku feels a bit warm after she heard his response... _/Wha- the temperature have risen at least a few degree... I thought I'm already used to hear all the praises from my peers back in Soul Society/_ "Well.. there are some shinigami that is ugly _/Like those in section 11/_ but I am an exception." she winked at the boy _/Damn! Why am I playing around with this boy? Oh well! I have time to spare anyway/_

"Really? So I will be sent to this 'Soul Society' place soon too huh. Can I ask what is this soul society place is like?"

"What? why do you say that you will be sent to the soul society soon too?" Rangiku is a bit surprised that such a young boy said that he will die soon but not sure whether she just misunderstood.

"Well.. I was told by the doctor that I'm not going to last longer than a few month so if I'm going to the Soul Society place when I die why not find out a little bit about it now."

Rangiku was speechless... here in front of her is a boy who already accepted death and such at a young age to boot. She couldn't remember the time when she herself died but she sure will not be as calm as the boy in front of her should she be in the same position. She chose to answer the boy truthfully and explained what the soul society is like. After a while the boy's curiosity is satisfied (3 hours of explaining and she is very exhausted). _/Damn! this boy sure is very curious! better get back or he will ask another question/_ "Oh well! I better get going soon or I'll get in trouble. Sayonara boy! See you again in the afterlife"

"Sayonara nee-chan! are you going to come to sent me to Soul Society when I die too?"

"I'm not sure about that but one of the shinigami's in charge will be sure to sent you when your time come."

Rangiku returns to the Soul Society after that. A few months after that Toushirou died peacefully at the age of 8 of his illness and is send to the Soul Society where his path to become a shinigami will begin.

* * *

Extra : 

# Some basic information, I have decided to keep the same name as the manga for his Earth name.Just to let you guys know the story begins when toushirou is 6 years old and during the period of 5-7 years old Toushirou is able to learn a lot during his time at school and will be carried over to the time he was sent to Soul Society. His intelligence is mentioned in the manga as he is heralded as a genius.

# This is my first fic ever so I may have some mistakes but I'll improve and change my style as I need.

Credit :

I have read an interesting story about Toushirou which inspires me to write this. The Title of the fic which inspires me is "The Sound of Snow Falling" by The Sh33p.


	2. Chapter 01: Arrival at Soul Society!

**Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story**

Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travel the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Bleach.

/Thoughts/  
"Dialogue"

* * *

**  
Chapter 01: Arrival at Soul Society! The Birth of a Resolve?**

Toushirou POV

_I can't breath..._

_My body feels heavy..._

_I feel sleepy..._

_Is it the time?_

_Mother... Father... Everyone... Sayonara..._

General POV

_/Huh/_

_/Where am I/_ (Toushitou finds himself looking at his body on the hospital bed)

_/So am I dead.../_

"It's time..."

_/WHA- /_

"Who are you? Oh! Are you the Shinigami-san that has come to 'sent' me?"

"You know about us? How did you.. that's strange.. Oh well forget it. if you know about us then you know that I'm here to send you to the Soul Society right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Good then I'll send you there"

"Thanks Shinigami-san"

"What a strange boy.. he seems very calm for a boy who just died. Uhh... Better get going for the next assignment!"

(The shinigami here is some random character of no importance)

Place: Soul Society

Toushirou POV

"Where am I? Am I in soul society?" He looks around him and saw what looks like a very plain place.  
"Seems like a very boring place... If I'm not mistaken I'm quite sure the Shinigami Nee-chan told me that when I'm send to soul society somebody will pick me up to tell me what to do." Suddenly I heard sound of foot steps behind me.

Random Shinigami A "Correct! Please follow me, I am the guide for the souls who had just arrive here and you may ask any questions"

_/Just when I'm talking about it... oh well better follow the guide then/_ Toushirou follows the guide as he asks some questions about some of the structure and the guide gave some of the basic explanations of living in soul society and the rules that I have to follow. I was in the middle of my thought as the guide suddenly tells me that we have arrived.

In front of us I saw a large building which I assume is the soul society administration building that the guide was talking about and there I saw many people are gathered and I queued to receive a ticket. I was then registered and then was told to go to a sector in the rukongai. Then I Follow the group of people which seems are gathered and separated to go to different sector of the rukongai.

By the time I arrived there I look around and I find that the infrastructure here is similar to the building of the japan a few decades ago. I look around and find that some people groups together and stay on the same roof. _/Well.. I better start to look around to gather some information to find a suitable place to stay and hopefully with friendly people/_

_

* * *

_  
A Week later

Toushirou walked around the place and sleep under a tree at night and exploring around at day and he still couldn't find a place where he could stay.

_/Oh well! I guess I can sleep outside with the stars as my roof. At least I can't be ill anymore so I can't possibly die anymore.. er... I'm not sure whether I'm able to die again... Guess I'll find out about it sooner or later./_

A Month later

Toushirou POV

"Damn this is boring! don't they have something to do here? everyone I see is just walking around or talking with each other... If this continues I'll die of boredom! but damn... up till now I can't seem to find food. Do they even sell the stuff here? I thought if I die I won't need to eat anymore but I'm starting to get starved.." Suddenly I bumped into someone and stopped me in the middle of my ramblings.

"Go-Gomennasai! Are you alright?" A girl who seems a few years older than me is apologizing to me.

"It's alright" _/Even if i'm also at fault I won't say it. I look closer to the girl and see that she is at least a head taller than me. She also put the hair in a bun and looks kinda funny. I guess almost everyone is taller that me when I'm so short. Heh I guess I'll have to wait for a long time till I reach puberty and have a growth spurt that I have read in one of the scientific books I have read/_

"A-ano..."

"Huh?" _/Oh damn! I'm rambling in my thoughts again../_ This is becoming a habit of mine since my body was weak I spend more time to read about philosophy and many other interesting books that my parents bought for me to read in the hospital that cause my mind to think by itself and as a result I spend less time talking and a lot more think and since now I'm healthy my mind and body seems clash and operates by itself so I tend to have a lot of accidents. I'm getting better in the past month since I arrive here I'm getting better to co-ordinate my mind and body again.

"A-ano" she calls me again.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" I asked the girl in front of me.

"You seems blanked for a second there. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah I am sure I'm fine. Where are you going anyway?"

"Oh! I'm going to the shinigami talent scouts. I heard they are coming to scout in this sector soon."

"Huh? Shinigami talent scouts? what are they?" I asked the girl.

"You don't know? Are you new here?"

"Yeah, I have just arrived here a month ago. Well are you going to tell me?"

"I see, well, the shinigami talent scouts are shinigami which the job is to recruit shinigami to join the shinigami academy. After you passed the academy then you will become a full fledged shinigami."

"Ah.. What's so good about shinigami anyway? they reap souls of dead people right? sounds like a boring job to me though."

"Well I heard that people that are chosen as a shinigami will live across the wall and live in the shinigami living quarters which are many times better than what we have here at rukongai. It's also saver and we are guaranteed to have easier life there."

"Still seems pretty boring to me. Well good luck to be scouted then."

"I'll be going then. Hm.. Do you want to join me to look at the scouts?"

_/Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do at this place anyway/_ "OK"

"Let's go then. Ah wait! before we go have we introduce ourself to each other yet?"

"Er... not yet. Do I have to"  
"Of course! My name is Hinamori Momo! Nice to meet you"

"Aaa.. Hitsugaya Toushirou..."

"Er.. you're not very talkative are you? Hmm.. your name is too long.. hey.. you have a white hair.. that's it! Shirou-chan! I'll call you shirou-chan and you can call me ! Oh no! Let's go or we're going to be late!"

"What? Don't call me that na" before I could even finish the sentence Momo already pulled my hand and get into a mad dash to who knows where.

After 30 minutes of walk they arrived on the main road.

When they arrived at the main road, they stand on the road side and chat as in Hinamori talk and Toushirou listens to her rambling while waiting for the the shinigami scout to arrive.

After unknown hour of waiting and listening momo's ramblings toushirou finally snapped.

"Are you sure you have heard the right information?"

"Er... To be honest I'm not quite sure myself. I just heard the gossip from my neighbour."

"..." _/Note to self: don't listen to gossip. EVER./_ "We're just wasting our time... We better get going. This is just a waste of time. We aren't even sure that the scout guy are really coming."

"Sorry.. it seems that I got the wrong information..." Momo apologized.

"Aaa.. It's alright. Just be more careful and clarify your information before you act next time."

"Cla- what? how did you know that kind of difficult word?"

"I read a lot of book back when I still alive"

"Whoa! I didn't know Shirou-chan is a bookworm! I heard that smart people gets grey hair faster, no wonder shirou-chan have white hair."

"Hei! my hair is silver and I was born this way so leave my hair alone." _/I really need to stop the Shirou-chan... may be some revenge will give her a lesson/_

"Well let's go home then. By the way, where do you live Shirou-chan?"

"I told you to stop with the shirou-chan will you! just call me Toushirou or Toushirou-kun. I sleep under the trees near where we met"

"Don't want to! Shirou-chan is shirou-chan. Wait! didn't you share a house to stay yet?"

"Uh.. no? Should I?"

"Of course you have to! normally people who just arrive here will join an existing group within a week. This is the first time I see people who sleep outside for a month."

"Err.. yeah I walked around and didn't have time to find place to settle down yet." Toushirou sweatdropped.

"Well then you're lucky! I still an empty spot in my place." Momo smiled at him. "Well! what are we waiting for!  
Let's go!" And momo drags Toushirou around the place again.

"He-Hey! You haven't heard what I have to say yet!" But it fell on deaf ears. _/Oh well.. Why not? she seems like an interesting person to be around. At least I won't be bored of my mind around her/_

An hour later they arrived at what seems to be Momo's house. "We have arrived!" and she enters her house.

"Aaa... Ojamashimasu" Toushirou called.

"Okaerinasai Shirou-chan! Please come inside" Momo replied.

"Tadaima.. Seems like a nice house"

"Of course! I'm the one who decorate this place."

"You did? you sure did a good job" Toushirou replied as he looked around the place. It looked like a small hut of one room but looks spacious. "Where is the other residents of this place?"

"For now I'm the only one who stayed here. I heard the previous residents became shinigami and this house is empty so we're the new residents of this house."

And so it begins the days where Hitsugaya Toushirou's single status was revoked and became a couple with Hinamori Momo... No way! (just kidding)

* * *

The next day...

Toushirou were awake early in the morning where his heads seems to be still in the cloud. _/Time to wake up it seems/_  
and wake up he does. He looked around and finds himself on a futon. _/Where am I? Aaa... that's right I moved with the Momo girl and stay at her house/_ He streched himself and tidy his futon and walk to find Momo.

When he couldn't find Momo in the house he decided that perhaps Momo is taking a bath or something. _/Well I haven't took a bath for a few days myself. Take a bath it is/_ After a short jog to the river he found Momo is washing something and he decided to greet her. "Ohayou... are you washing your clothes?"

"Huh! Shirou-chan! Ohayou! Yeah I'm washing my clothes." She answered.

"Well I'll take a short bath downstream then." _/Huh? I thought she said she is washing her clothes but that is her bed-sheet.  
Oh well it's none of my business. May be she is washing it together with her clothes/_

"Enjoy your bath Shirou-chan!"

"Don't call be shirou-chan!" Again it fell on deaf ear of Momo._ /Oh well better give up or perhaps I could find a nickname for her. But I still couldn't find any suitable nickname to annoy her... yet/_ Toushirou muse as he walk to find a suitable spot to take a bath.

Fifteen minutes later Toushirou returned and went back home. The rest of the day is pretty uneventful except for the fact that he is being dragged around while Momo decided to take a walk.

The routine continues for several days and there's nothing important that is being registered in his brain except for what seems like a strange fact stuck on his mind. That is the fact that Momo seems to be awake earlier everyday which is not very strange but that the bed-sheet of her futon is almost everyday and she hangs it to be dried everyday too. That is what is strange. The fact stuck like a sore thumb in his brain until he decided to wake up earlier than usual and finds Momo took out her wet bed-sheet to be washed. _/Wait! Did I really see what I think I just saw? If his hypothesis is correct this is nickname he thought for her is going to be branded on her for a veeeery long time/_ And just like that he decides to greet her. "Ohayou Bed-wetter Momo" He snickered.

"Ohayou Shirou-chan" Momo replied and after several seconds that the fact registered to Momo that Toushirou greeted her with more than ohayou and several more second to register the nickname that toushirou gave her to her brain and then her brain went to shut down. After a minute her brain has been restarted that Toushirou was laughing his ass off while waiting for her reaction then she suddenly replied with "Shi-Shirou-Chan! please don't tell anyone! please!" Hinamori pleaded.

"Aaa.. I'll think about it.." Toushirou replied as he smirked

"Shirou-chan! please..."

"Heh... Fine then I'll just won't call you that nickname in public" _/I'll keep that in mind to annoy you though/_

"Thank you Shirou-chan"

A month after the Bed-wetter Momo discovery (though after in depth investigation Toushirou just found that Momo sweat a lot at night that cause her to wash her bed-sheet everyday)

Toushirou discovers not to long after his stay that Momo and him are getting hungry. That's when the discovered that they have spirit power that will enable them to become a shinigami if they want to. Though they need to find themselves food to eat before they will die of hunger. However Momo is very timid and kind by nature that does not allow her to do anything bad to get food.  
Luckily Toushirou by some dumb luck found a watermelon patch in a part of the forest that he found during his adventure before he met Momo. He brought watermelons everyday to feed Momo and himself and Momo felt very grateful having Shirou-chan by her side.

* * *

Another season change, early in the Summer a Shinigami that heard of them came with an offer for them to join the shinigami academy. Hinamori Momo immediately accepted their offer while Toushirou rejected saying that he is not interested in becoming a shinigami. After that Momo argued with Toushirou until Momo discovers how hard-headed Toushirou can be. Toushirou convinced Momo that he can take care of himself. After all he had survived before without any help. Momo decided then that she could go to the academy without any worry. However not before she made a promise that they will continue to become friends and will help each other when they're in need.

Their friendship continues as she visited Toushirou almost every time she have breaks from the academy. This continued until he found out that shinigami have to fight hollows. He had to find out the hard way during one of his advanture because he feels bored out of his mind and he decided to go deep into a forest to find something interesting to do. He didn't realize that he is walking closer into the Danger zone where the shinigamis often patrols around the area to prevent hollows from breaking into the Soul Society.

In the forest suddenly he realized that the forest is suddenly silenced. From the book he have read he have realized that the if the life in the forest is suddenly silenced means that a dangerous predator is in the area. Unfortunately for him, the predator in the area is more dangerous than usual.

The Hollows are attracted to a very attractive spirit which is very delicious to them and this spirit seems much more delicious than normal and this unfortunate soul is Toushirou himself. He figured that he is being tailed by several predator which he don't care how dangerous it is except that he will be dead meat if he do not escape as soon as possible and just as he tried to run a hollow appeared in front of him.

Toushirou POV

_/I found myself was frozen from fear of encountering unknown beast. This beast seems to be much more uglier than the monsters that I have read in my book/_ I tried to humour myself and I find myself spoke "What the..." and tried to run to another direction and found another beast with the same uglyness is blocking my path and when I tried to look around I started to lose hope. _/Damn! Every escape path is blocked by these monsters and in this kind of place I don't think help will come... Oh well I guess this is really the end for me.../_ and just as I am finishing my line of thought the beast in front of me leaping to me and I tried to use every energy I have to block the monster.

Just when I thought I'm going to become a monsters food I heard a sound of flesh stabbed. For a moment I thought I have been eaten but when I open my eyes again I saw a Shinigami blocking the beasts path to me and spoke "Damn brat! you sure got yourself in a tight spot huh"

The voice sounds very familiar to me.. In fact I seem to know the voice but I can't seem to remember very well where I have heard the angelic voice that have saved me from certain death. And as I looked around I find the shinigami is fighting for her life against a very unfair odds. She looks very cool from my view... as I see her blocks the beasts attacks on her she keeps slashing and stabbing with every slash slowly each one of the beasts mask started to crack and starts to dissapear. I saw the grace and agility in her moves. Until theres one beast left and she tried to stab the last beast's mask but the beast is too fast for her in her conditions and the Shinigami is drained from fighting all the beasts. I understand that weariness is unavoidable after such strenuous movements and defeat is unevitable unless...

The beast moved so fast that it seems to dissapear and reappears behind the shinigami and before I realized it I starts to run towards the beast and tried to pull it's leg to stop it from delivering a critical blow to the shinigami.

* * *

Rangiku thought she was gone for sure but during the last moment the beast's movement was halted for a split second and during the split second she delivered the killing blow to the last hollow. All that fighting seems to pump all her adrenaline and after the fight is over all the energy she had drained decided to have their revenge by stopping all her muscles movement except for a few twitch here and there due to the strain she had put to her body. She looked at the boy who seems to have saved her life. Well in truth she saved the boy's life but the boy seems very brave in her eyes because he did not escape nor was stunned during their fight.

She dropped and feels herself that she is close to fainting from losing all the blood caused by her injuries and weariness. "This is very bad..." She looks towards the boy who is also looking at her and seemed to be spinning the gear in his head. "Get out of this place and run to the place where you came from. Those hollows were attracted to your spiritual energy and more will come to this place very soon. I already called for reinforcements to pick me up but I'm afraid they will not arrive fast enough to save us." She sincerely hoped the boy will be saved. Now that she think about it there is somethink familiar about the boy that seems to nag at her mind but her body decided that it needs to shut down for a while or in layman's term to sleep to regain energy that she had lost while storing all her thoughts for late musings. Right before she closed her eyes she saw what she thought is a smile from the boy and after that all she saw is darkness.

* * *

Toushirou POV

A small part of me wanted to ran away and what she had said reminded me that I am no match for those beasts and fighting them is suicide and the logical part of my brain decides that staying here or helping her is lowering my chance of escaping those beasts. I saw her tried to send me away and even after all she had done for me she is still willing to protect me even if that Meant endangering her own life. _/Is every shinigami is that foolish? to protect others even if it meant to sacrifice themselves/_  
a few minutes ago I ran to stop the beast on reflex alone. I did not do it under my own will... _/I am not such foolish idiots to waste my own life after I had to die so young in my past/_

This is my breaking point...

My path diverges into two...

To live as a coward or die without regret...

_/I have to protect her/_

_/I will live my live without regret! I won't give up just because of those idiotic beasts are scary/_

I see her fighting her weariness and just before she closed her eyes I smiled at her...

_/I will protect you with my life/_

* * *

Toushirou POV 

_/What was I thinking to piggy-ride her on my back? she is much larger and the that thing on her chest is to big for her own good/_ I finds myself sweats harder after an hour of walking in the forest to the way back home. _/What was I thinking just now? oh yeah, the thing on her chest, those thing is giving me a hard time to balance her. Surprisingly she is much lighter than I thought/_

_/This is getting harder... Huh! what it it? I felt something tailing me... It's similar to the feeling I got when those hollow thing tailing me before. (my eyes widened in realization) Uh oh I'm in trouble/_ With renewed vigor and realization that nobody might save us in the forest at night I ran with the speed I don't even know I have to get out of the forest as fast as I could.

General POV

Unfortunately even with all his energy Toushirou finds himself draining very fast and it's only a matter of time before the beast would caught up with them. He finds himself calculating for the every possibilities and he had to admit that they are done for unless the reinforcements that the Shinigami mentioned arrives to help them.

_/Argh! I would have give up running away if not for the fact that another life is riding on my shoulder/_ Suddenly one of the hollows that moves much faster than a the hollow before fell from the tree and blocks my path and with my momentum it would be impossible to evade the tendril that is waiting on the path in front of me. At that moment everything seemed to move in slow motion and in lightning quick decision I drop her from my back and blocks the path of the tendril that the hollow is going to use to stab through my body hoping that My body will stop the tendril from its course towards the shinigami's body.

Toushirou POV

At that moment which seemed to last forever or just a moment in real time the hollow was split into two parts and I am saved yet again. I will thank every deity in have heard for the devils luck I seem to have but at that instance I heard many slicing sounds and tried to look around and find a huge shinigami which seemed to have a katana with damaged edges and something with pink hair hangin on his back.  
then several random thoughts appear in my mind _/I wonder what is that/_ and _/What a big guy/_ but most of all the feeling that washed me is the feeling of dread of standing near that man. I sure hope that guy is on my side.

General POV

After Zaraki Kenpachi and his Vice-Captain Kusajishi Yachiru eliminates or more accurately Kenpachi slashing everything that came at him and Yachiru hanging on his back watching the fight they looked back at the small boy who the size could be compared with Yachiru and not a Shinigami to boot fighting with everything he had. At that moment Kenpachi seemed to have a vision of the boy in front of him with a monstrous aura. _/Kukuku! seems like I found a monster waiting to be born/_ "You lucky this time brat.. Become stronger" And he walked to Rangiku that Toushirou had dropped earlier. Suddenly Yachiru spoke "Ken-chan likes you! he would like to have a fight with you in the future" And then they left the area.

Toushirou POV

"Argh! I don't want to be such a weakling always waiting to be saved. I don't give a damn about fighting with that Ken-chan guy but this is so pathetic... I don't want to always be saved. This time I will be the one to protect her when she needs help fighting those Hollows" Toushirou's eyes lit with renewed resolve "I'm not sure why but I feel that I need become a Shinigami to protect those who are dear to me. So be it"

* * *

Authors Note: 

# Some of the parts that I wrote is kind of shabby. I guess this is still the beta. Many of the chars is kind of OOC. I'll have to re-read or re-watch my bleach collection to refresh my brain of the characters and get their line closer to their intended character.

Next: Hitsugaya Toushirou the Shinigami is Born!


	3. Chapter 02: Small Side Trip

Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story 

Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travel the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story.

NEEDED: If someone is interested please become my beta reader. I don't have much time to update my work and I'm already busy with all my job. Any ideas to improve this fic is appreciated

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Bleach.

/Thoughts/  
"Dialogue"

* * *

Chapter 02: Birth of Hitsugaya Toushirou the Shinigami! 

After several minutes looking at the direction Zaraki Kenpachi went, Toushirou decided on the path he is going to travel. Right after deciding that he will become a Shinigami no matter what, Toushirou quickly ran to back home while thinking on what he should do to decide how exactly he is going to become a Shinigami.

/Damn! Last time I rejected their offer because I thought Shinigami is a boring job but what I found out today is a real eye opener! I never knew the Shinigami is such a noble job. But that Shinigami Nee-chan who saved me looked real familiar... where have I seen her before? err... have I been forgetful lately? That's right! That Shinigami nee-chan is the first Shinigami I've ever met! I met her before in the hospital. But how did the nee-chan survive all those fighting with the hollows if all those fighting were that intense? She also is willing to sacrifice herself for others... That's it! After I become a Shinigami I will find her and definitely protect her from being harmed by the hollows/

"Oh well musing too much will mess by brain... better get back soon"

/Hmm... I think I recognize this part of the forest.. I'll be back home soon/ Hitsugaya continues to muse as he continue to run through the forest but suddenly Hitsugaya realizes he moves much faster than he ever ran before /Hey! I don't know that I can run this fast? Have my speed increased? If my speed did increase how did it differs so much in just one day? yesterday I need several hours just to ran across this part of the forest and now I just sped through the same distance in less than an hour? I definitely have to find out more about it.. Oh well.. I'll just find out more about it later/

After another hour of forest tracking Toushirou reached his house and decided to take a short bath and give himself a long nice rest.

A few days after that

Toushirou have been searching for ways to become a Shinigami. Although he is aiming to become Shinigami, he still does not know the way to become one other than being recruited by the Shinigami guys.

"This is very boring… I can't believe even after a week I still haven't heard anything related about the Shinigami recruitment stuff. If this is the way, I'd perhaps find a way to be stronger myself… I have heard that with proper body conditioning I could become stronger but even I don't think I'll get strong fast enough to become a Shinigami… May be I'll walk around first and organize everything I know in my brain to hypothesize everything I've known to find a way to become strong in the most effective way and while I'm thinking perhaps basics will do fine since I never learnt how to fight."

Basics are what Toushirou do for the whole day while he muses to find a way to become a Shinigami. Toushirou tried to run till his body limit is reached but even then he is confused because he could hardly get tired. This is very confusing to him because he never do any sports even in his past life and he thought that running at full speed continuously for hours should be physically impossible for someone like him.

While he is running around a forest near where he found a watermelon patch to train himself he is grumbling to himself. "Argh! I can't believe even after all those running I still felt the same. Last week even before that disaster in the forest I still could not run for even an hour and even then I still get tired easily even when I walked around. Did I eat something strange that suddenly increases my stamina? "

"!"

"That's it! I get it!"

"Everything changed ever since I returned from the border" (he dubs the area where he met the hollows as border as Shinigamis often patrols around the area and that area is the difference between safe and dangerous zone).

"So it is not impossible that I surpass my body's limit during that time with all those hollows targeting me. But that still could not explain how I became stronger only because I'm in danger… Did I somehow went into overdrive during the running? However even overdrive has its limit if my body could not handle it anymore…" Toushirou continues to muse by himself as he suddenly trip over a stone near a cliff.

As he fell he thought perhaps he will die again.

/Uh oh/

"Err… how could I ran near the cliff in the first place? Oh yeah, I ran so damn fast and I didn't keep track of where I'm going anymore…"

/But I will not die now… Not when I have found a new purpose, I still have to become stronger! And! If I die now, who will be the one to protect her/

Toushirou thought to himself as he look around to find a way to save himself and as he look around he could not find anything he could hold or to slow his momentum towards the ground. As he is closing to the ground his line of thought is faster than even the most sophisticated calculating machine to formulate a way to land with the best way to reduce the impact to his body based with all the knowledge of the law of physics and just before he land he already came with a solution to save himself and the rest he could only rely on his luck. "May the luck be with me"

He adjusted his posture to land on his feet and at the moment of impact he felt that he use something spiritual on instinct and he use every joints on his body to absorb the impact as much as he can and as his joints are almost breaks he spun his body to spread the vibration from the impact within him to his surrounding and he continues to spun he found the energy he gathered right at that moment is beyond even those of normal Shinigamis to generate.

Right as he does that, Toushirou felt like he is invincible. But he unfortunately he isn't! So he suddenly sprained his leg and faltered and as he tried to support himself he was unable to do so as his moment of invincibility is over and his energy is spent. After the fall, Toushirou tried to stand with his battered leg to no avail. "Err… I won't try that again anytime soon… As if I'm so stupid to repeat the same mistake"

As he tried to stand he looks over the land and found a clearing. The place is hidden and has never been touched by anyone else for a very long time. As Hitsugaya looked around he found that the clearing is surrounded with white stones and those stones naturally forms fences with the many spikes with sharp ends on it. "I'm lucky I didn't land on that. That sure to guarantee me to have a new hole for breathing." (o)

"I don't think I would survive that if even on flat ground I can't even land properly"

He looked back to the place he landed on and he saw a hole near by and as he looked closer to the hole what seems like a hole was a pond with a very clear water. "I must have the devil's luck! Now I can at least stay here for a moment."

" I hope my leg is alright... if it was damaged permanently then I'm finished here… I'm a bit thirsty, better drink the water first and think the rest later."

Toushirou POV

/This place is very secluded. I doubt anyone would come here. I'd better take a closer look at this place and explore the rest when my legs are better if I hope to survive at this place/

Just as he tries to move around he felt the difference in the atmosphere. "This is strange, even when I tried to moves every move I tried expends so much energy and I feel like I'll drop dead. Why am I this tired? Now that I think of it I feel very hungry… all the more reason to drink first to recover my energy."

Right when I drank the water I felt the freezing cold liquid flow through my throat and jolted my mind as if to awaken it and I felt much more aware than before. My energies were recovering rapidly and my hunger was gone. I realized that was strange and what was weirder was the damage to my leg is beginning to recover although it is healing at a slow but steady rate however it was better than nothing. As I felt the cool healing power of the water was healing me I let it work by itself and began to think of a way out of this place.

After I wait for a while my legs were healed and as I tried to walk I find that I have never felt better with pent up energy waiting to be released. Just as I thought that I could start to explore the clearing under the cliff I find it hard to move around. I thought that I was unable to move around before because my energy was spent but now I realize that it was not the case. Now as I tried to increase my awareness to scan around the area with all my senses I felt several differences such as the air I breathe as I found it much harder to breathe. /This is strange… I thought this kind of atmosphere is supposed to be around the area with at least several hundred meters above the sea level/ He also find that his body feels much heavier than usual and he deducted 2 possible reasons why which are that his body is weaker than usual or this place have higher gravity level and it is affecting him and he decided that the second one is the most reasonable reason.

Somewhere in another realm...

"Impressive... He has unlocked the 'key' and it seems he had found what it takes to become strong. Though.. his method is a bit crude and his current strength is unacceptable furthermore he lacks what is needed to unlock his potential... I'll wait for a little longer for the fruit to mature more ..."

Back with Toushirou

As he continued to struggle with the multiplied gravity Toushirou had finally able to find a way to move and that is by forcing his body to the limit. Even then he still unable to move properly and he couldn't stand longer than a few seconds.

"I can't believe my luck! First I fell to the cliff and landed on a strange place." (he forgot that he survived coz of his devil luck)

"Perhaps this in itself could become a lesson to me. I couldn't become stronger since I could hardly feel the strain on my body before. Now it seems that by some dumb luck I've found a suitable training ground."

The routine continues as in Toushirou tried to walk around the place but it seems that there is no way out of the place. However in his small adventure around the place Toushirou couldn't understand the strange rock formation around the clearing as it seems that it was man made but it have been left by it's maker a long time ago.

While he couldn't get out of the mysterious place, he managed to survive by drinking the water from the small pond and while he could ignore his hunger for a while the hunger grows equally fast as he felt stronger from the daily training by walking around the place.

Toushirou POV

"How the heck am I supposed to survive without food! I can't believe I felt more hungry than ever. If not for the strange water that I drank daily I would not survive this long so who am I to complain."

"Hmm.. I guess it's time to travel back and look for food then... But... The question is how? I can move around much better than before compared to a week ago ever since I arrived here. A path out is out of the question... then there's no other way other than climb my way up the cliff..." Toushirou look at the cliff for a while from the bottom and moves above up to what seems like the place where he fell and his neck feels sprained by the angle he looks at.

"How did I survive the fall again? Never mind... I'd better forget it. Now to find a route up there..."

Toushirou started to climb the cliff but he find out that there are very few rocks that could be used as holds.

"This... Is... Hard... Perhaps with the normal gravity I could climb this kind of surface easily but as I goes higher there are fewer stones to be grabbed."

Suddenly Toushirou slipped his hold and fell again but he is using his hand and feet to grab to the cliff and fortunately he succeeded to get a grip on a tree branch that grows on the cliff.

"Phew! That's close. I can't hold any longer than this though."

"My hand! It hurts! Seems like all my finger nails were left above when I slipped just now. I don't know if I could survive if I continue to climb but I won't stop now!"

Toushirou continues to climb the cliff of several hundred meters above ground. Although he slipped often he endures the pain and continues even though all the pain is numbing his mind.

As he felt his strength is weakening and what was left was his will he just remembers what is his purpose if he became a Shinigami in his mind.

"I will survive"

"I will sur..vi..ve…"

Toushirou POV

/This is bad… my vision is blurry… is this my limit/

/ NO IT'S NOT! I won't give up! Not when I have found a goal! I have to protect her! This is just a stepping stone in my way to become a Shinigami! I will become one no matter what and I will not die if this is the last thing I do./

"p.. o.. w.. e.. r..!"

/I need power… I don't care how but I need to surpass my pain! I will become stronger! More!"

Somewhere in another realm…

"Seems like he is the one after all… He has the trait. But can he survive this?"

General POV

Toushirou continues his cliff-climbing and as every bit of his last reserves was drained his right hand touched the top and with everything he have left he reached the place where his little trip in the mysterious clearing under the cliff.

"I'm spent… ugh.."

everything went dark for him.

Somewhere in another realm…

"He surpasses my expectation, seems like I made the right choice after all. Till next time then… Hitsugaya Toushirou…"

* * *

This is the end of the 2nd part. Though Toushirou is yet a Shinigami. I hope I'll get more time to update more and re-read my story. 

Next at 'Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story' : Toushirou will meet the scout from the Shinigami. Toushirou became a student at the academy… or will he really be accepted as one?


	4. Chapter 03: Gray Head Shinigami?

**Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story**

Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travel the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story. Last chapter ended with Toushirou are finally able to get out of the cliff. Let's get on with the story then.

NEEDED: If someone is interested please become my beta reader. I don't have much time to update my work and I'm already busy with my real job. Any ideas to improve this fic is appreciated.

Note: Thanks a lot for those who have spent their time reading and reviewing my fic. I really appreciate it. For the last two chapters are just a prelude towards to main scene. I want to write new chapters soon but alas I could only write it when I have the time and idea. )

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Bleach.

_/Thoughts/_  
"Dialogue"  
Actions

* * *

**Chapter 03: Gray Head Shinigami?**

Toushirou POV

"Huh? Where am I? Wait a minute..." I take a look around for a little bit and am able to take a look at my surrounding and finally I remember what I did yesterday. "Ugh! That was one helluva wall climbing, but finally I was able to get out of the hole. I can't believe that I am able to climb the cliff after all the pain I had to endure. All those pain has been numbing all my senses"

"Looks like I somehow were moving on auto-pilot again if I were here." Suddenly I felt a jolt of pain and finally realizes that all my body were covered in scratches and some very deep scratches but the worst was the damage on my limbs. I'm lucky I didn't fall halfway to the top though. I have to congratulate myself for my hard-headedness then.

Err... I went off to the cloud again it seems. He sweat dropped

"Oh well I need to get back now. I can't let myself wasting any more time than I already have. Who knows I may have lost another round of recruitment... my chance to become a Shinigami may have gone... again..."

Suddenly he shook his head wildly for a few times "Damn! Why am I depressing myself over spilled milk that is yet to be known? Better get back to the Village and get the latest info first. I can't believe myself getting depressed over nothing."

General POV

Soon Hitsugaya took himself forward towards the direction of his village on a dash and he finally realizes the difference in his movements as everything around him is reduced to mere blurs but he could still follows all those movements clearly.

"Is this just my imagination or I ran faster than before?" Suddenly he saw many tree branches blocking his path and he saw only a small opening to get through the branches. "This is perfect, I could test my reflexes to train my alertness." Then he increases his speed and rushed through the branches and as he avoiding the branches his senses were heightened to the limit and he moves with a grace of a panther chasing its prey. But halfway through he suddenly saw something and sharpen his view towards the direction and saw a huge tree with a diameter around 10 meters were broken halfway with its splinters were scattered around the area. "What the heck! How in the world did that happen? No wonder all those branches were blocking my path, it was all caused by the impact from this huge tree. This is strange... The direction the tree fell and the distance between the bottom and top half of the tree is very unnatural."

Toushirou slows down and stopped right near the area the tree splinters were scattered. "Hmm... I can't believe that a tree this huge could be broken in half... the distance here and the tree's top half was more than 50 meters... Now that I think of it... there's some kind of familiar feeling... A disgusting feel that seems to cause the end of my hair standing... I just can't remember where did I have this kind of feeling..." Toushirou muses for a while until he suddenly remembers. "! OH MY GOD! NOW I remember!"

As he shouted to his body tenses and he felt a sensation that he is being watched. He alerted all his senses and get himself ready for anything.

Five minutes later...

"... Looks like there's no one is still here... Uh... OH NO!" His eyes widened as he saw something or rather, to be more specific a hollow had just appeared in front of him.

"This... is... surprising..." "I can't believe this... Oh well! Better get the hell out of this place. I don't think I could survive a fight with that monster right now. C ya mr.hollow!" Suddenly Toushirou leaped backwards and get away as the hollow jumped forward to slash Toushirou with its claw.

Right when his feet touched the ground he used the momentum to leap forward and as he moves forward everything seems to slow down. The hollow tried to run after him but it's effort is wasted as every step it took Toushirou continues to widen the distance between them and with the speed Toushirou never realizes he had he looks just like a gray flash inside the forest.

After an hour of 'cat and mouse' chase the hollow gives up as it is getting closer to the soul society and decided to go back to the realm it came from as it deem the prey was out of it's league. It can fight with it's huge body but speed is not it's forte.

As the presence of hollow disappearing Toushirou relaxes his sprint to be a quick jog. "Wow... I really did outran the hollow... Last time I met them I couldn't even distance myself and to top it for last time I was running for my life and just now I was not even running with all I had... Is this the after-effects of the strange gravity field training? If that place is that useful I sure am lucky to be able to find that place. I'd better map the route to that place on my mind."

"Uh... What should I call that small hidden valley I fell into anyway? Hmm... Since the gravity within the valley is different than the normal rate I'll just call it gravity valley for now. Hmm..? What was that just now? Was it just my feeling? Oh well, better get back to the city before it gets dark."

'?' POV

_/Interesting child... He could sense my presence... That alone should be impossible without proper guidance and his spirit energy is flowing freely but perfectly contained... No wonder the hollows were attracted to him. He is blessed with an unknown amount of potential but he is quite different from what I heard from what the Captain of the 11th Division have said to me./_

Flashback to 7 days ago

"... Let me hear you report regarding this case"

Kenpachi straightened his body and replied lazily "Humph.. Do I have to? Just let Yachiru do it for me"

The mysterious person just stared at Kenpachi releasing a little bit of killing intent released.

Everyone within the room started to have a cold sweat although they maintain their calm visage. Although Kenpachi never backs down from any challenger and looks down on anyone aside from him he know when to act properly by respecting a stronger warrior. He started to talk again. "Fine... Anyway as you know recently there have been several strange case where the hollows trespasses our territory due to several reasons such as hunting delicious souls. I met someone who was targeted by the hollows as those hollows were attracted to him. This boy have a high spiritual concentration but is nothing noteworthy." As he was explaining his experience slaying the hollows during the fight several days ago Kenpachi started to get excited remembering the look at the boy's face as the boy facing his death. _/I'm can't wait the young seedling to ripe. Hehhehe.../_

Kenpachi didn't show it but the mysterious person realizes that Kenpachi still hides something important but decided to let this matter slide and carry his own personal investigation later.

Back to Present

"It seems that my intuition is correct. This boy have the potential to be a seated Shinigami officer if guided properly. But as how strong he is going to be is still a question mark in itself as I can't gauge his spirit level properly." Then the mysterious person suddenly disappears from where he had been a moment ago and reappears several kilometers away from the spot._ /If he is fated to become a Shinigami then I'll wait if that boy is fated to become one... then if he is I will guide him myself./_ The mysterious person thought to himself and disappears again and this time his presence completely vanished.

Back to Toushirou, during his trip towards the city he felt someone was watching but his/her/it is vanished completely a second later. "This is bad... Whoever's out there is fast... Surely is much faster than me even with 100 of my new speed. I'll just hope that whoever is there watching me doesn't carry bad intention toward me." Then Toushirou quickens his pace until he reached the outskirts of 'Ryutamashiikai' the outer side of soul society, the place where he lives now and probably will continue to be so till the end of time.

"I'd better take a quick info gathering to get a general idea what's been happening recently." As Toushirou walks toward the Centro of soul society he opens his ears for any latest gossips while stopping by to ask the people around for latest news.

Not too long after he took off, Hitsugaya overheard several elderly people were gossiping about the recent increase of souls that were gone when they went into the forest. His curiosity increased and he decided to get closer and hid behind a bush.

Random person A: "I can't believe that there are so many people were lost in the forest. They were just gathering some woods for basic materials you know."

Random person B: "Yeah but that's what I have overheard from what the Shinigamis were conversing with themselves. And also recently the Shinigamis were having more patrol than usual and they also looked more alert than before. I even saw one weird Shinigami vice-captain were giving orders just now."

Random person A: "What? Then it is true then! Damn! I have to stay as far away from the forest..." Toushirou stopped listening from this point.

_/They doesn't know about the hollows? May be the Shinigamis decided to keep the civilians in the dark. Knowing those hollows were walking around freely in the forest sure is not a comforting thought/ _Hitsugaya thought. "But... now chance to become a Shinigami has appeared. I need to get one of the Shinigamis to recommend me to their superiors and then I could get trained to be Shinigami in the Shinigami Academy. That is simple enough. The question is will it be that simple? Wondering around will get me nowhere so I'd better find the one of the Shinigami."

5 minutes later Toushirou already scanned around the area but couldn't find anything. "Err... I don't know where to start looking. How could I be so stupid to forget such an important point! I'll just look around randomly then..."

Just right at that moment when Toushirou stepped forward he bumped into someone with a very small body if it was even could be called that. "Hey watch your step!" Toushirou said to the one who blocked his path. "What! How could you blame me old man! You're the one who blocked me in the middle of my path." Then as she stands up and look at Toushirou he realizes that he knows her.

"You! You're the small guy that's with the big guy in the forest!" Toushirou yelled. "Huh? Do I know you old man?" The familiar person said to Toushirou. "Uhhh... my name is not old man you know. I am Hitsugaya Toushirou, what's your name by the way?" "But your hair is gray! How could you hair be gray if you're not old then? Anyway my name is Yachiru. Have I met you before? You seem familiar to me."

_/Is she serious? Damn I meet with a strange person indeed. But this is my chance, I could ask her to recommend me to her superior./_ Toushirou thought. "Anyway, forget about my hair. now that we have meet again can I ask you a favor Yachiru-san?" "Hmm? What do you want to ask me? I'll think about it." _/Yes/_ "Well I'd like to become a Shinigami. So can you recommend me to the academy so they could give me a chance?"

"Ara? You want to become a Shinigami? Sure I could recommend you. But are you sure you could handle it? You look weak." _/Look who's talking.../_ Toushirou replied in his head but decided to keep his mouth shut as long she is helping him. "I may be weak but I won't give up on being a Shinigami. I have promised myself I would become one no matter what happened... Even if I have to put my life on the line for it." Yachiru look at him skeptically and finally says "Fine then... I'll get you to the academy... That is if you could follow me there! Ikuze... Hyaa!" Yachiru suddenly dashed towards the general area of Central of Soul Society.

"What the? Damn! I'd better follow her or I'll lost her soon!" Then Toushirou dashed towards the direction where Yachiru headed. As he followed her lead Toushirou was able to shorten the distance within them and soon will be able to catch up with her. "Not bad! Now to increase the rhythm a bit..." Suddenly she widens the gap between them but Toushirou is no willing to give up on his one chance to be a Shinigami. /_Uh oh! Is she for real? how could she ran that fast? But I still have a chance. I'll run with the shortest route possible while using my body to use my momentum as my fuel and reducing the wind resistance by lowering my body... I won't lose! Here I go/_ Toushirou run at his maximum speed combined with using his physics knowledge resulting him being able to runs faster than he ever did before. But even though he was running like that continuously he was just able to maintain the gap till they reached an area with a wall floating on top of the city.

Huff Wheeze Huff "That sure is a very draining jog... If I could even call it like that... I wouldn't be able to do those kind of maneuvers during normal situations." Toushirou said panting between his words.

_/Not bad for a Shinigami to be. Ken-chan will be happy if I told him about this./_ "You win! I couldn't follow you even at my max speed..." "Nah! It should be impossible for a non-trained person to be able to follow me anyway. And you're able to keep up me even with your limitations. I was running at quarter of my speed after all." Yachiru said while grinning at him. _/Wha? Quarter? Just strong is she? Were all the Shinigamis are all that strong or it was just her? Nah.. Every Shinigami I saw had an extraordinary abilities that surpasses my normal logic./_ "Qu-Quarter! Ahh... I guess I'm still far from being a real Shinigami in term of speed if even a normal Shinigami were able to move like you." Yachiru laughed _/No, not really. I'm not a vice captain for nothing after all.. even between the vice-captains and captains I'm still ranked within the top half in term of speed. But he doesn't know that and thought that I'm just an ordinary Shinigami. Better tell him the good news then./_ "Well, If you think that way it's true that you're still a long way to go, but everybody does not have same talents and you haven't underwent through the same training that I have went through after all. Anyway, forget about that. I will ask ken-chan to give you a recommendation to the old men that is managing the academy. Wait here and someone will pick you up soon. C ya gray head." _/Hmm.. He sure is a strange guy. And he is still very young and yet to be polished. Ken-chan will be glad to her about this. The boy will give him a decent fight within 10 years time./_ As she thought that she get into a semi crouching position and dashed lightly and sprint herself away into the city while grinning to herself.

"Err... What should I do now? Seems like she had agreed to recommend me to get into the academy. I guess I'll just wait here for a while."

Somewhere within Soul Society...

"So that's what happened Ken-chan!"

"I see..." _/So he is going to be a Shinigami. I guess I'll wait till the boy gets stronger. I wonder if he will be able to reach my level though. Perhaps he will get within Ikkaku's level 5 years from now. I guess I can't have a decent fight out of him anytime soon then. Perhaps in 10 years he will be a challenge enough for me. Kukkuku/_

Back to Toushirou

_/Hmmm... I can't believe I could be this lucky. I hope everything will be going as smoothly./_

"Hey there!" Someone shouted behind him. "Hm?" Toushirou coolly turned his body slowly and looked towards the direction the voice called. "Are you really the one Vice-Captain of 11th Division recommended? You're still very young you know? Do you really knows what being a Shinigami means?" The man with a deep voice and strange hairdo said to him and continues to talk without waiting for his answer "Oh but you seem quite wise for your age coz you have lots of gray hairs. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. Well, welcome to Soul Society and follow me." Then the stranger walked away without even introducing himself.

"..." _/I'm speechless... I can't believe he didn't even pause to talk. I guess I'm right coz lots of the Shinigamis were all weird bunch of people./_ And then Toushirou follows behind the stranger towards the academy. _/I really hope that there will be no more weirdoes in the academy... My weird meter had reached my limit for the day.../_

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Ah-hem... I guess this is the next chapter for my fic. I just need to point it out but I just recently got the materials for Toushirou's character from the latest bleach chapter after the soul society arc and in the past chapters were all what I imagination of his char coz of incomplete information. I'll try to re-read and repair it as it goes. o 


	5. Chapter 04: Another Trial?

Hitsugaya Toushirou: The Story

Summary: Story about Hitsugaya Toushirou as he travel the path of Shinigami to protect those who are dear to him. This is my version of his story. Last chapter ended with Toushirou are finally able to get out of the cliff. Let's get on with the story then.

NOTE: If someone is interested please become my beta reader & editor. I don't have much time to update my work and I'm already busy with my real job. Any ideas to improve this fic are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Bleach. Perhaps some of the OC but they're only side char and won't appear long anyway.

Note: In this arc I'll try to explain some facts that I created regarding Soul Society and the way the academy works as there's no in-depth explanation on it within the Manga or Anime.

/Thoughts/

"Dialogue"

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 04: Another Trial?

Place: Unknown

Time: Unknown

"ARRGH!!!!!!" Toushirou evaded to the left and as he evade he felt the slash the Hollow had nicked his face. "That's close!" Just after he said that another Hollow appeared above him and as he tried to move himself forward he felt like his feet was unable to move and as he look beneath him he saw the third hollow was holding his feet. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And the hollow above him stabbed its tendrils right through Toushirou's body. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"

Suddenly Toushirou was awakened only to find himself within a room and as he tried to recall everything his mind is still numbed from the scary dream he just had. "Where am I..? Ugh my head feels dizzy..." and as he said that he shake his head a little and take a look around him but he still felt that he was in an unfamiliar location.

As he looks around he found that the room he was in is only equipped with the bare essentials with a small 4 story cupboard and a small table. He closed his eyes for several more second and his most recent memories came back crashing through his head. "Damn… that hurts… how did I come here? I remember I was following the old headmaster into the forest where I was tested to figure out my soul's potential strength. Did I pass? Is that why I am here? Or I failed and the old man is waiting for me to wake up to kick me out of this place? Oh man… thinking too much is useless I guess… I'll just get some rest and try to recall my memories. This is too hazy for my taste."

As he said that Toushirou flops back down onto his futon and closed his eyes and then he starts to remember…

Flashback

Place: Shinigami Academy, front gate.

Time: 1st day Toushirou arrived there.

After several minutes of waiting somebody came through the gate and greets Toushirou, "Welcome… Kusajishi-sama has said that you would like to enter our academy to become a Shinigami. However she said nothing regarding your abilities. I believe that you have heard what being Shinigami will receive better treatment within our society and you became interested to be one, however to become Shinigami is not easy and you will undergo a 10-years study program to become a Shinigami. Some will undergo even longer to specialize within a certain class." The Shinigami then gaze at Toushirou from the top-to-bottom and stared into his eyes and somehow his presence feels more imposing. "You don't look too convincing and we have never received any application to enter this academy from a young soul like you. Personally I'll just reject you and do not think that you're ready to join us yet. Are you sure that you would like to join us young boy?"

Toushirou stayed silent during the greeting and kept his composure even when he is being looked over and replied when the Shinigami staring at him. "Yeah I'm sure. I'd like to join Shinigami for several personal reasons and I'm not interested in explaining it to you. Can we please go to meet the Headmaster of this academy to discuss the details regarding my acceptance into this academy?"

The Shinigami looked surprised for a moment and replied, "You sound surprisingly confident. Usually all the new recruits were shaking by the time I finished my first opening sentence. I like you boy, follow me, I'll take you to the headmasters office." and then he turns and started to walk into the building.

Toushirou followed the Shinigami and replies "Really? I did not feel anything when you spoke to me though and I'm already sure of my own conviction to become a Shinigami so no matter what you say so nothing sway me."

/Really? Let's see later then... The headmaster will be pleased that we get an another over-confident brat to be put down a peg or two through the special entrance test that we rarely use since it left the examinee pissed down on his own pants and I had to clean after the mess. I don't really enjoy the cleaning but the fun far mo outweighs the cleaning so all is fine/ Outwardly there's no changes in his face that shows his thought as only a small imperceptible smirk that indicates his thought.

/Huh? What the? Why am I suddenly having a chill when nothing is cold here? Oh well… It will serve me better to prepare myself for the incoming entrance test. Nothing will stop me from becoming a Shinigami… I need the power to protect… It doesn't matter what I will go through as long as I am able to obtain the necessary strength to become a Shinigami like her/ as he is thinking, Toushirou still follows the Shinigami that is guiding him to the Academy Headmaster and noted that the path to the place and map it within his mind.

"We're here. Please wait for a moment." The Shinigami knocked onto a huge wooden door several times and stayed silent for several second.

After a moment an old sounding voice was heard from within the Headmaster's Office. "Come in…"

Right after the Shinigami heard the voice the moved to open the door and gestured for Toushirou to get inside first as he is the guest.

Toushirou walks into the office and saw an old man behind a very large table with many documents and papers stacked on the side of the table. /Whoa! The old man looks ancient with the face showing the stress of studying the paperwork in front of him. That's one thing that I don't want to do when I'm old… It looks very boring and stressful/

The Headmaster stopped doing the paperwork and took a moment to look at Toushirou to 'measure' him and said "Please sit down and accompany me for a tea. I'm just thinking of having an afternoon break. We could have a conversation regarding your acceptance while we relax. Shinzo, could you please prepare a cup of tea for both of us?"

"Sure sir, the usual for you or you would like something different today?" Shinzo replied.

"The usual please, Thanks Shinzo" The Headmaster responded and then he look at Toushirou again. "Now, let us converse while we're waiting for the tea to be prepared."

"Sure, but first I thank you for the opportunity given to me to enter this academy sir." Toushirou spoke.

"Oh it's alright. Actually there's some recommendation from Kusajishi-san to let you into the academy so I will make an exception for you since you're actually still too young to be in this academy. Normally we only accepted a 20 and above years old soul since they are easier to be molded as their spiritual power have been unlocked for some time. I'm actually wondering what to do about you since it will be a burden to us if you're unable to understand what we taught here." The Headmaster said.

"Thank you for your concern however without venture there will be no gain and I'm prepared to take on any trial to become a Shinigami. Please give me a chance to study here and you won't regret ever accepting me here." Toushirou replied.

The Headmaster looked thoughtful for a second and then used his advanced senses to sense the potential within the boy in front of him. /Amazing, this boy shows more potential than what I have felt for a very long time and his eyes actually shows no doubt in his purpose. I guess this is enough and even though this can enter directly I'm curious on how he will perform this test of mine… I'd like have some kind of concrete evidence to check out this boy's capacity after all/ "Fine, however you'd have to undergo the test that I'm going to give you later."

"Thank you sir, I'll do my best" Toushirou replies. /Now that I'm given a chance I'll have to pass this no matter what…/

"Good! Now before we begin let's have a tea first and we can start the test later. I'm thirsty from all these talking." The Headmaster said.

Shinzo arrived right after the Headmaster has finished talking and starts to prepare the tea for both Toushirou and the Headmaster. "Please enjoy your tea, Ryuusei-san"

"Well, let us drink first, oh! shinzo, please start the preparation for the test. I'd like to start this as soon as possible."

"Consider it done Kouchou-sensei" Shinzo replied and then walked out of the room.

"Let's us start Toushirou-kun, now come closer to me"

From now onwards I'll shorten Toushirou to Shirou

Shirou walked several step towards the Headmaster and suddenly the Headmaster extend his hand toward his face and everything went dark...

Place: Unknown

Time: Unknown

Shirou's POV

/Ugh... what happened to me? last thing I remembered was talking to the old man... what did he do to me?/ I tried to stand however with some difficulties and realizes that I am again in somewhere that I don't recognize. /Was I moved here by the old man? then what is the purpose that he had to make me unconsious just to move me somewhere else? he can just ask me to go with him anyway. Maybe he want to keep the location of the testing ground a secret from me? Hmm... where is the old man anyway? I don't see him anywhere and I did not feel any presense of any soul around... Oh well there's no sense in making any conclusion without enough facts. I'll just try to explore this place a bit/ Having reached a decision I looked around for some clues and realizes that I am currently within a tunnel or something similar and found that this tunnel has only one way to go so without wasting anytime I walked towards the direction where the tunnel leads me.

I found it strange that within a tunnel that is supposed to be dark I could see as clearly as day. /This is getting strange... Is it just me or the walls of this tunnel lights by itself without any light source? Hmm.. maybe the wall contains some kind of Phosporic substance... however the luminescence is of different colour.. not red, blue or green... was it because this is not earth so the mineral here is different... wait a minute! that's it! I'm here within soul society so it's no wonder the substance here is different from earth. I'll have to remember to carry a research about what soul society is built of. Now to carry on with this tunnel.../

After I walked for what seems several hours and I don't think that I was wrong because my stomach is screaming to me to be feed. /Hmm.. How long has it been since I had eaten any watermelon anyway? I think it was several days ago. Oh man I need food!/ I squashed what I was thinking and decided that thinking of food will only increase my hunger.

6 Hours Later

/Oh man! this is crazy! how long do I have keep this anyway? will this tunnel never end? I hope not cause I won't be able to survive then/ Just after that line of thought I saw a bright light although small toward the direction I'm going. /It seems like this is it!/ Then I ran towards the direction and after several minutes of running I found myself not at an exit but at another dead-end. "WHATTTTTTT!!!!!!!!! why is this a dead-end? I thought there's only 1 way! I didn't see any different tunnel" /Wait a minute... let's calm down. If there is no entrance or exit how was I here in the first place. This tunnel is strange in the first place as it is only one way. I'll try checking on the walls and perhaps there's a direction on what I should get out of here or what I'm doing within this tunnel in the first place./

I tried to feel the wall around the dead-end of the tunnel and hoping to find some kind of secret path or something like that. However several hours later it turned out to be a false hope. /Damn it! what is going on here! I had checked every details and found nothing. Was there something I'm missing? I'm tired... I'll just rest for now and try again later./

Somewhere

Third Person POV

Ryuusei and Shinzo was looking at a crystal ball where they could monitor Shirou's activities.

"Hooo not bad! not bad at all! he has finished the trial of body where he has to walk to the end of the tunnel... not any academy hopefuls are able to walk there without encountering severe exhaustation. His soul's stamina is higher than average. I wonder how long he is able to withstand the second part of the trial?"

"Want to bet Kouchou-sensei? I'm betting he won't last for more than 3 days in there before he gave up" Shinzo spoke to the Headmaster.

"Oo Ho? you want to bet against me Shinzo? Are you sure? I'll win if he last longer than that you know. I'll make you do all my paperwork for a week if I win then. " The Headmaster spoke with a flat face however let's take a peek into his mind /He he he Ha HA HA HAHAHAHAHA!! No Paperwork for a week!! BANZAI!/

Shinzo facefaulted and looks again into the mirror /perhaps I have to think about it a little bit more.../ "err... kouchou-sensei..? can I.."

Before Shinzo finished speaking Ryuusei cut in and spoke "It's a deal then! we'll wait for another... He looks at his watch and continues 60 hours till the deadline. anyway.. can you make a coffee for me Shinzo?"

Shinzo sweatdropped /Damn sneaky old man! he cut me before I can pull out from the bet. I just pray that boy will give up soon for my own sake/ he walks out of the office while thinking last time he had to do the paperwork and shudders.

Ryuusei looks again into the crystal ball /I'll see how long you could last within this 'Tunnel of Trial' Toushirou-kun/

Back to 'The Tunnel of Trial' (I know the name for the place sucks but I have no better ideas for now)

Third Person POV

Shirou awaken from his nap and continues to look for clues. /Did I really miss a path along the way? if this is a tunnel without exit what is the purpose for building it in the first place? there's not a single sign of landslide and I really doubt I can miss such an obvious clue... perhaps.. I have to dig a hole to the exit?/ He winced at imagining to dig a tunnel with his bare hand. /I doubt that digging an exit will be possible by myself without any help and I'll die of exhaustation before I finish it without knowing the geo-map around the area... I guess I'll have to go back to where I started to find any possible clues that I missed./

And Shirou continues to look for clues around the tunnel and finally he fell down exhausted after several days without any kind of nourishment and finally decided to just meditate to prevent him from losing his mind and sanity from being trapped within the tunnel. /I will not lose my sanity and I won't die here! I'll try to meditate to replenish my energy. I had read something about it and I doubt it'll work however I need to concentrate my mind and prevent it from breaking... I can't afford to lose myself now... I will be there to see her again and to protect her.../ Shirou's train of thought ended as he entered the state of zen.

Back to Ryuusei and Shinzo

Ryuusei can only be amazed as he found a spirit with extraordinary will refusing to give up even without losing a single bit of his sanity as he is trapped within the tunnel. /Incredible! up until now there's rarely any academy hopefuls who undergone this trial without losing his mind to hunger and still in control of themselves. this spoke volume of the boy's endurance and mental capabilities. It has been a long time since there's someone who could last this long... I guess I better prepare to summon this boy back soon./

Shinzo is speechless as he checked to Ryuusei's office to look at the boy's progress. He has been from several days ago since the time limit has passed and he has to do the paperwork as he has lost however he had to give it to the boy. He knew that the boy had a strong will however he did not know the limit of that will and he guess that he will not find out anytime soon as it seems the boy has not shown any sign of breaking at all. /This is ridiculous! where did he hide that spirit within his skinny body? a normal passing conditions to be accepted into the academy is to last for at least 2 days and he still lasts until now? it has been a long time since there's a soul who is this stubborn and that has been a very long time ago./ suddenly his train of thought is stopped as Ryuusei spoke to him.

"Shinzo, prepare for the summoning spell to pick up the boy. I believe he has shown us enough don't you agree?"

"Hai kouchou-sensei. I'll go and pick him up."

Shinzo starts to incants the spell to summon the Toushirou from the 'Tunnel of Trial' and as he spoke Shirou's body started to shimmer and the next moment he is gone from the tunnel and appeared in front of Shinzo. What he missed to realize is that toushirou is floating and just as sudden he dropped to the ground.

Headmaster's Office

"Ouch!! what happened? how did I suddenly drop myself?" Toushirou spoke to himself.

"Welcome back young man! I have to give it to you. You have passed with flying colours" /and I can look forward to 7 days of pure torture called paperwork no thanks to your stupid baka hard-headedness!/ Shinzo said.

"Oh really!? what is the meaning of that test aside from torturing me with hunger and will power anyway? I can't believe that I was trapped in that stupid tunnel without any clue or exit of what I should do! and you call that a test?!"

'Shinzo sweatdropped' /Ouch! guessed it in one go. Looks pissed to boot!/ " Ehhehehe.. You guessed it. It's a pure test of will power and you can be proud coz not many last there without sign of going mad and lost hope due to being trapped."

"Yes, you are a more of a thinker type so normally most of your type will start to lost hope when you're trapped in a situation where you can't solve the problem with you brain and will start to break under the stress. Anyway I'm glad that you have passed the test Shirou-kun. We have finished evaluating your progress and I have assesed that you have a lot of room for growth. Learn in this academy and I hope that you'll be able to attain your goal." The Headmaster pause to finish the tea.

"Rest for now, you have been accepted. Go back to your room and I'll send someone to tell you the classes that you have to join tomorrow morning." Ryuusei ends the conversation.

"Thank you Kouchou-sensei and you to Shinzo-san" Shirou bows his head and left the room to go toward his room.

"Shinzo, I want you to prepare a program for the Shirou-kun. I believe he will benefit by joining the 2nd year and 3rd year program" Ryuusei spoke.

"Wha? what do you mean that he'll be starting from the second year sensei? isn't it too soon for that?"

"No, he won't be learning anything from the 1st year class anyway. Just give him the text book for the 1st years and ensure that he studied it in his own time. Most of the 1st years are spent to develop the Reiatsu necessary to use the basic demon arts and learning the history of Soul Society anyway."

"Does that mean that he already have the reiki necessary to do the demon arts Ryuu-sensei? Even most of those with high potential in Reiatsu needs to develop their reiki first to let them adapt and prevent them from losing Reiatsu to the point of death!" Shinzou asks in disbelief.

"Do you question my judgement Shinzo-kun? I may be old but I hate to waste time on something that is not important. I created those different levels of classes is due to the requirements needed in order for the students to learn all the important things needed for them to fully develop themself. Shirou-kun is a little bit different. Somehow he already have a ridiculous amount of reiatsu that I wondered why haven't he collapse from all those consumptions of energy usage."

"I-I apologize that I have stepped out of line Kouchou-sensei... I should have realized that you have analyzed his potential from the trial that he had went through." Shinzo bowed and apologized.

"That is alright. You can start to do my paperwork now." /Hehhehehehehe.. AHAHAHAHA!!! Time for a long needed vacation! I heard that there's a good fishing spot in Australia at this season./ "Anyway don't forget what I have planned for Shirou-kun" /I have to thank him for winning my bet for me and giving him some exciting class is good enough I guess/ "Jaa ne Shinzo-kun" Ryuusei then shunpo-ed away to la-la-land!

"Wha?! Kouchou-sensei..? what do yo..? OH NOOO!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS STUPID OLD-KIDDDD!!!!"

Back to Shirou

Grrrrr... "Uh Oh! Damn I still haven't eaten anything yet" SNEEZE "Wha??" SNEEZE SNEEZE SNEEZE "Oh man! Don't tell me I can caught a cold even after death" SNEEZE "Better get some long needed rest first" GRRRRRR "..." GRRRRRRRRRR "Perhaps after I eat something..." GRRRRR SNEEZE

Back to Shinzo

grumble grumble gruble "Damn that kid! He'd pay for this" grumble grumble gruble "DAMN YOU PAPERWORK!!!!"

-----------------------------------------------------

07 June 2007

Anyway I'm sorry for the long absence. I can't believe that it has been that long that I've neglected this story. Recently I start to read some Bleach goodness and got an inspiration to continue this fic. But I guess this is more for my own fun. I have lots of ideas for many fics without knowing how to start them. -.-

I'll explain some of the Facts I created mixed with those based on manga:

Shinigami Academy

As you guys have known, there's a place for the people within soul society to become a Shinigami. This place is created to teach basic knowledge to a shinigami until they're proficient at least enough to survive in a fight against a hollow or able to perform basic administrative duties.

Classes

In the academy, there are many subjects that have to be taught, for example: Basic Understanding of Reiatsu, Demon Arts (Kidou), History of Soul Society, Basic Fighting Skills, First Aid Classes, Their advanced lessons and many more that I'll reveal as this story goes. These subjects are taught according to the student's level of understanding and their preferences.

The students will undergo various exams throught their studies and need to at least have basic understanding for all subjects. (Of course there's some special cases where knuckle-headed morons pass but that is because they are not able to pass but have high aptitude for fighting ability)

Soul Ages

(I won't go in depth coz I'm not too clear on the subject myself, but here goes)

Within Soul Society where all soul gathers there are many of those ages as they gets older. However I believe that soul ages as their soul matured and they does not follow the rules of normal earth time. Perhaps time flows slower, faster within soul society which is still undetermined yet.

Reiatsu

Within soul society, souls are composed of reiatsu and some to those with higher density of soul than normal souls have potential to become a Shinigami.

If Reiatsu's were divided into classes such as F to S Class, then normal souls are F, Academy Students are E-D, Average Shinigamis' are D-C, Vice Captain are ranged from B to A, Captain are from A to S Class. That are the basic plot, but of course there are some which possess reiatsu that does not fit into their supposed levels.


End file.
